I wish jtd would come back and tell us what it is. I still think that Capt. Atom might be different. I swear I have a "prototype" pic maybe from a SDCC that Capt. Atom looks that dark but again it could just be lighting or camera flash.*Edit*Well I was looking for a Capt. Atom prototype but I ran across the grey tight Zatana. Thought I'd post it for the heck of it.

Ok jtd, I thought so. I looked at that pic a few times and didn't notice the difference in Capt. Atom right away. I'd like to find an orange shirted Aquaman proto without the shine to the orange. I only saw a few on Ebay before he made it to retail.

Well it's been awhile since I've posted on this board. Mostly because I had to pack away my entire JLU collection for a year while we were in the process of moving. Now that the move is complete I have been setting up my "office/man cave" and unpacking all of my toys. I even bought two new shelves to display my entire JLU collection. When I opened the storage boxes this weekend I couldn't have been more disappointed.

First let me explain how I packed them away. Knowing that they are made of really cheap plastic I purposely laid down a layer of tissue paper and bubble wrap, followed by a layer of JLU figures lying on their backs, followed by another layer of tissue paper and bubble wrap and so on. My entire collection filled up one plastic bin. I stored the bin at my parents house in the closet of an upstairs bedroom. Again, purposely keeping them out of the attic or garage knowing that extreme heat will melt these figures.

Fast forward to this weekend and about 1/2 of my collection looked like pretzels. Twisted legs, twisted arms and even Batman Beyond had his ears bent down. It's going to take me hours of boiling water and resetting limbs to get my collection looking good again. I really do love this collection and the way the figures look when they are all displayed together. And I appreciate Mattel for getting out as many figures as they could as best as they could. but the JLU figures certainly do not hold up to the test of time. I was so disappointed at first I considered trashing the entire box of figures. Now that I've had some time to relax and work on a fix I'm going to attempt to put them all on display as intended. Actually, If anyone could point me to an old thread on resetting warped body parts that would be really appreciated.

If everything works out I will be sure to update my pictures in the Collection forum. BTW, I didn't have any issues with my Disney or Loony Tune figures that were packed away. Granted a lot of them were PVC type figures but many of them were in the 6 to 8 inch action figure style.

To be honest, any modern day figure that was produced abroad needs to be handled delicately. So you know... it's not just JLU, it's DCUC, Marvel Legends, DC Direct, etc. So when I move, I stick with bubblewrap, individual zipbags, foam paper (the kind typically used to cover LCD screens) and acid free tissue paper. And trust me, it's not OCD. It's experience. Because as Mr. White would put it... it's all chemistry.

For instance, Acid Free Tissues help keep sealed air and plastic from reacting with white plastic and turning it yellow. So I use it on figures like Grundy.

The foam paper I cut into little capes and use it to prevend "soft" plastic capes from "bonding" with the figure's back and/or other plastics capes or plastic limbs. Mattel knows this and that is why they typically cut holes in their packaging and allow the cape to go through the clear tray. Even on small figures like JLU. As a matter of fact, if you look in between Grundy's back and coat, you'll notice that mattel inserted a clear thin film of plastic in order to separate the two.

The rest is self explanatory. FYI, I would not use the boiling water method to "re-set" all my figures. Vac-Sealed figures like Cyborg & Goldface will loose their shine instantly. The same happened to me when I tried to do a Joker head swap. That is, his purple coat lost all it's shine and became very dull. So instead of having a two-tone purple suited joker, I have a four-toned washed out ugly one.

My advice... if the figure is delicate or hard to replace, use a hair dryer instead.

Fast forward to this weekend and about 1/2 of my collection looked like pretzels. Twisted legs, twisted arms and even Batman Beyond had his ears bent down. It's going to take me hours of boiling water and resetting limbs to get my collection looking good again.

That just really bothers me. I'm sorry man - goes to show what passes for "quality" over at Mattel these days. A shame that those who invested so much money into this line to collect and enjoy it are being rewarded with product that's falling apart.

This makes me think I should do something to store mine more carefully. I have noticed legs on the ladies warp rather easily....but thankfully nothing as drastic as the pretzel look your collection is rocking.

Quote:

Just got a cancellation notice from BBTS concerning a couple of the JLU multi-packs I ordered from them

To be honest, any modern day figure that was produced abroad needs to be handled delicately. So you know... it's not just JLU, it's DCUC, Marvel Legends, DC Direct, etc. So when I move, I stick with bubblewrap, individual zipbags, foam paper (the kind typically used to cover LCD screens) and acid free tissue paper. And trust me, it's not OCD. It's experience. Because as Mr. White would put it... it's all chemistry.

For instance, Acid Free Tissues help keep sealed air and plastic from reacting with white plastic and turning it yellow. So I use it on figures like Grundy.

The foam paper I cut into little capes and use it to prevend "soft" plastic capes from "bonding" with the figure's back and/or other plastics capes or plastic limbs. Mattel knows this and that is why they typically cut holes in their packaging and allow the cape to go through the clear tray. Even on small figures like JLU. As a matter of fact, if you look in between Grundy's back and coat, you'll notice that mattel inserted a clear thin film of plastic in order to separate the two.

The rest is self explanatory. FYI, I would not use the boiling water method to "re-set" all my figures. Vac-Sealed figures like Cyborg & Goldface will loose their shine instantly. The same happened to me when I tried to do a Joker head swap. That is, his purple coat lost all it's shine and became very dull. So instead of having a two-tone purple suited joker, I have a four-toned washed out ugly one.

My advice... if the figure is delicate or hard to replace, use a hair dryer instead.

Thanks for the tip Ricky! I did use the blow dryer instead of the boiling method and i'm glad i did. It saved me the headache of doing all that work in the kitchen and then bringing it all upstairs. I'm almost 100% finished with the reshaping and re-gluing to stands. I hope the have them on display by the end of the weekend.

Can anyone point me to those awesome JLU watchtower decals someone made that you can printout and past together? I'm thinking of covering my selves in them to look like layers of the watchtower!

Hey Disneyboy! Yeah, it's a shame that the plastic is soooo weak. Next time (if there is a next time) I'm going to try and store them on individual layers that are supported so that the weight of the top figures doesn't push down and bend the bottom figures.

Doh! Thanks Whako. I think I have them saved to my home PC. I hope so because the more I've been thinking about it the cooler I think I can make my display. If I can't find them I might have to make my own or search eBay for some watchtower artwork.

My girlfriend made a funny statement about how Mattel has not had a toy line "stick" since JLU. Its just sad they could have kept making these, they are cheap to make. Now Mattel just starts a new line every like 6 months they have NO tried and true toylines on the shelves right now but hey my wallet loves me these days !